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Written: Feb 22 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It more or less works as intended.
Cons: Poor sound quality, a few minor annoyances.
The Bottom Line: If you're looking for an inexpensive answering machine and don't mind the somewhat reduced sound quality, this machine will do.
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| atrocious's Full Review: General Electric 29878GE1 Digital Answering Machin... |
Please be gentle. It's my first review. :-)
First off, let me say that I've never been too fond of GE consumer electronic products. Maybe they can build passable jet engines, but they seem to have trouble with things you can comfortably fit in your den.
Still, my old (tape) answering machine was starting to act quirky, so I thought it best to join the 21st century and go digital. Cheaply, of course.
A quick trip to Wally-World and I procured this here very answering-machine. Packaging was a hassle-free box (I HATE that atomic-welded blister-pack stuff!) which I opened all by myself! Inside, the documentation seemed clearly written. All the accessories were there. No surprises.
I plugged it in, powered it up, and began listening to the female voice which emanates from the device to inform you of system status. I say "listen", but what I actually mean is "tilt my head from side to side like a dog trying to understand what it's being told".
The voice is very difficult to understand, you see. Poorly reproduced. I sincerely hope that this poor woman doesn't actually sound like that in real life. How noble of GE to hire her if she does!
Anyway, the incoming message playback is a little better, maybe. Voices are (mostly) understandable, but sound a bit funny. I still have a little trouble identifying people by their voice, but I'm getting used to the odd tone and trembling-pulsing sound quality. I did have one unidentified person call and leave a holiday greeting at Christmas...but I never could quite make out who it was. Whoever you are, if you're out there, Merry Christmas to you too!
Other nit-picks: It has this absolutely freakin' HUGE LED message indicator on the front, which doubles as the "on" light. So there it sits, casting this powerful stream of photons in your direction at all times. It flashes when you've gotten a call, of course. But since you learn to overlook the giant red beacon being on all the time, you tend to overlook it when it's flashing too. I suppose it would be handy if the machine were located, say, at the opposite end of a football field. You could really tell if you had any messages and save yourself a walk. But my den isn't that big. I think it should illuminate only when you have a message.
All in all, for the price it isn't too bad. It does function. People call, speak to the thing, and I hear the message later. It even tells me what time they called. And it does all that without a single jet engine component. Amazing.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
atrocious
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Reviews written: 5
Trusted by: 0 members
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I'm a mammal. And a biped.
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